Tucson Medical Center is taking steps to reduce waste produced in the Food and Nutrition Services department on its journey to becoming a more sustainable organization.

In partnership with the city of Tucson’s FoodCycle program and the University of Arizona Compost Cats, TMC is now saving unused or spoiled fruits and vegetables and their inedible offcuts to be composted and returned to the soil.

“Sustainability is so important,” said Katya van Rijswijck, Food and Nutrition Services accounting associate at TMC. “About one third of food produced globally gets wasted and put in the landfill. We are dedicated to finding sustainable methods to use waste, and to reducing our footprint. Compost is such an incredible resource and is so good for our soil.”

Once a week, the city picks up the waste collected at TMC and takes it to the Los Reales Composting Facility where it is turned into compost. It is then redistributed throughout the community to enrich the soil at city parks, local farms, TUSD school gardens, community gardens and the University of Arizona grounds.  

TMC Food and Nutrition Services has been collecting scraps for composting since early February and estimates its current waste offset at about 800 gallons of compost.